HATTIESBURG, Miss. – UTSA dropped No. 11 Southern Miss on Friday at Pete Taylor Park 8-7 as the Roadrunners have pulled within a game of the Conference USA lead.
The Roadrunners (33-16, 17-8 C-USA) entered this weekend's series two games back of the league-leading Golden Eagles and now sit a game away from the league leader. UTSA's 33 wins move into a tie for the seventh most in a single season in program history, tying the 2015 squad.
Offensively the Roadrunners were led by Ryan Flores and Sammy Diaz who both turned in 3-4 performances at the plate along with a walk. Diaz and Leyton Barry both recorded two RBI on the night to lead the team. Six different Roadrunners combined for 12 hits on the night and all were singles.
UTSA used a six-run sixth inning to power past Southern Miss. The sixth inning saw five consecutive RBI singles as the Roadrunners built their lead. On the other side of the ball, the Roadrunner pitching staff combined to allow 10 Southern Miss hits.
UTSA started sophomore righty Daniel Garza (3-0) who turned in a five-inning performance. Garza allowed four runs on five hits with four walks and four K's before being replaced by Braylon Owens at the start of the sixth. Owens went for two-thirds of an inning where he issued two walks and allowed no hits or runs. Simon Miller entered in the sixth to record the final out with two runners on. After getting UTSA out of a jam, Miller pitched the seventh too where he allowed one run on one hit. John Chomko took the mound in the bottom of the eighth for UTSA. The righty went for just a third of an inning after allowing two runs on three hits. Freshman Ryan Beaird would spell Chomko and was tasked with getting the final two outs of the inning with runners on second and third. After walking the first batter with four straight balls, Beaird settled in and punched out both remaining batters. As the ninth inning rolled around, UTSA found itself with a one-run lead. They turned to Luke Malone, who was scheduled to be the Saturday starter, to close things out. Malone allowed a leadoff bloop double and then retired the side to earn his second save on the year and get UTSA the win.
Southern Miss (36-14, 18-7 C-USA) starter Tanner Hall (7-2), who is fourth in the nation in strikeouts, went for five innings where he allowed four runs on five hits while striking out eight. Landon Harper entered in place of Hall but was roughed up. Harper lasted just two-thirds of the sixth where he allowed three runs on four hits. Isaiah Rhodes would replace Harper and record the final out of the inning but not before surrendering a run himself. Aubrey Gillentine would work the seventh and eighth inning for USM, where he threw two hitless/scoreless innings and had one strikeout. The Golden Eagles turned to Garrett Ramsey in the ninth who allowed one hit and no runs.
The Roadrunners came out of the gates hot as they loaded the bases with no outs to start the game. Tapia was hit by the very first pitch of the game before Killeen and Flores hit back-to-back singles. Sirdashney ground into a fielder's choice, as USM threw Tapia out at the plate for the first out. The Golden Eagles earned a second out before Diaz walked up to the plate with the bases still juiced. Diaz drew a bases-loaded walk to bring across one run and put UTSA up 1-0.
Both teams would fail to plate a run until the bottom of the fifth. There, Southern Miss put three on the board thanks to the bat of Carson Paetow. The Golden Eagles got the inning started with back-to-back singles from Danny Lynch and Will McGillis. With runners on first and second with no outs, Paetow came to the plate and hammered his tenth homer of the year, a three-run bomb down the rightfield line to make it a 3-1 game.
UTSA didn't wait long to respond, as in the top of the sixth its bats came alive. The Roadrunners loaded the bases with their first three at-bats thanks to a Flores single, Sirdashney HBP and a Keng walk. Then, following a USM pitching change, Diaz singled to center to score one. Next up was Barry who grounded out but scored Sirdashney to tie the game at three all. Next up was Ian Bailey who drew a walk, however, the fourth ball was a wild pitch and it allowed Keng to score from third as UTSA took the lead. Following Keng's run, Ochoa stepped in and banged a single through the right side to score Diaz and make it a 5-3 game. With a runner on first and third, Tapia grounded into a fielder's choice as Bailey scored from third as USM collected the second out. After five straight hits that resulted in runs, Killeen hit a single to move Tapia over to third and put runners on the corners. Having bat through the order, Flores arrived back at the plate and singled to rightfield, plating Tapia and putting the 'Runners up 7-3.
The Golden Eagles got a run back in the bottom of the frame as Paetow earned his fourth RBI of the game. Southern Miss used two walks and a wild pitch to get runners on the corners with one out. Then, Paetow stepped into the box and hung a sac fly to centerfield to make it a 7-4 game.
The Roadrunners pushed their lead back to four in the top of the seventh. Chase Keng started the inning by drawing a walk and was pushed to third following a Diaz single. Barry then smacked a single to leftfield to bring Keng across and extend UTSA's lead to 8-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, USM quickly got runners on the corners with one out. Slade Wilks then ground into a fielder's choice which allowed a run to come home, cutting the Roadrunner lead to three.
Southern Miss cut the gap to one in the eighth. The Golden Eagles had runners on first and second with one out as Gabe Montenegro singled to right, plating the first run. A batter later, Dustin Dickerson doubled to centerfield which scored another. USM would then load the bases with still just one out before Ryan Beaird entered the contest and put an end to the Golden Eagle inning.
Friday Notes
Home Runs
UTSA: N/A
USM: Carson Paetow (10)
WP – Daniel Garza (3-0): 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
SV – Luke Malone (2): 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
LP – Tanner Hall (7-2): 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Up Next
UTSA will return to Pete Taylor Park for game two against the No. 11 Golden Eagles tomorrow, May 14. The game will see UTSA's Luke Malone (7-2, 2.56 ERA) on the mound against Hunter Riggins (5-4, 3.18 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN +.
- UTSA -
